1. Choice of Equipment   

My prefered styles of fishing are dry fly or sight fishing with nymphs & bugs on rivers. Furthermore, I am a light line fanatic trying to achieve the most delicate & precise presentation that I am capable of. My use of the Italian Style of casting for much of my dry fly fishing also aids my light line approach since the style requires use of a line 1 to 2 weights lighter than the rod’s normal designation.

I use as long a rod as is practical to facilitate good line control & I prefer fairly soft, progressive actioned rods that will easily roll cast a light line and long leader & that will protect the fine tippets that I often use, particularly when I fish with size 30 midge & aphid imitations. My choice for larger open rivers is either a 10’ 2 weight or, if the fish are big, a 10’ 4 weight. However, when fishing superlight with a 0 weight line or a micro nymph line & long leader I sometimes use a 10’ 6” 0 weight rod. On small, heavily wooded brooks my usual choice is a 7’ 6” or 8’ 1 weight rod. In really windy conditions I resort to a 7’ 6” relatively stiff, fast action Italian Style rod teamed up with a 3 weight DT line & 16’/5m agressively tapered leader that facilitates casting into the wind. Another exception to the super light setups is when I’m targeting big trout in snaggy spots or barbel when I use a stiffish 9’ 6 weight rod. Finally, on reasonably open, complex pocket water where the fish are not too big I use a Tenkara rod, as long as is practical (11’ to 14’ 6”). Tenkara rods with a line plus tippet not much longer than the rod facilitate superb drag-free presentation of dry flies since, thanks to the incredibly light line (typically 0.285mm diameter copolymer or flurocarbon), it is possible to hold all of the line & most of the tippet off the complex surface flows. In addition when I want to apply subtle movements to dry flies or subsurface flies there is no heavy fly line acting as a damper & just a tap of the rod butt is enough to make a fly twitch enticingly.

As for fly lines, I used to prefer double taper lines & still love my 2 weight DT silk line for fishing small streams with short rods. However I was transported into the modern world three years ago when I was introduced to the Sunray Micro Thin Jeremy Lucas lines which have a 12’ front taper down to 0.55mm diameter & which are significantly thinner than most conventional lines of the same weight. Their Thinness is due to their specific gravity being greater than 1 which, in theory, should make them sink, but thanks to their highly hydrophobic coating or the application of a suitable floatant they float surprisingly well (as do greased up silk lines that are also more dense than water). Their delicacy of presentation & casting ability is superb. I tend to use these micro thin lines even on the rare occassions that I fish with a streamer since I normally fish at as close a range as possible. As mentioned earlier I virtually always use a line 1 to 2 weights lighter than the rod’s designation (1 weight, 0 weight or micro nymph lines on my 10’ 2 weight, 1 weight or 2 weight on my 10’ 4 weight & 5 weight on my stiff 6 weight). Only when fishing at very close range on tiny brooks do I use a line weight the same as the rod’s designation in order to load the rod effectively.

My favourite reels are the semi-automatic Vivarelli style. The original carbon Vivarelli is not ideal for use with lines thinner than 3 weight due to the gap between spool & frame so I now use a Maxcatch, machined aluminium version that has very fine tollerances for thin lines. These reels allow me to rapidly zip up any slack line; particularly useful when bank fishing amongst undergrowth as it prevents the spare line entangling with the vegetation. Alternatively I use a very light large arbour reel such as the Danielsson Midge or Nymph reels.

I use several floatants for my lines, leaders & dry flies. My silk line when dry is treated after each trip with Otter Butter, a fairly stiff, waxy substance that I find keeps my line & furled leader floating all day. My plastic lines & copolymer leaders are treated with Sunray Lineslik, a thinner coating that I reapply as soon as the line/leader shows signs of sinking. I should point out that when dry fly fishing I apply floatant to within a couple of centimeters of my fly. I do not support the theory that the tippet should be submerged. I want my line,leader & fly to lift off the water’s surface with minimal disturbance & without my fly becoming drowned. My two fly floatants are Roman Moser Miracle Float gel which I apply very sparingly to all my dry flies, including CdCs, when I want the fly to stay its natural colour, for example dark CdC flies fished against a light background & I brush with white, hydrophobic fumed silica powder if I want the fly to show up against a dark background. The only time I use a sinkant (Fullers earth mixed with washing up liquid & glycerine) is if I want the end of a nymphing leader to sink.

A couple of small fly boxes, one for dries & one for nymphs/spiders, are kept in my shirt/jacket pocket to which they are tethered with bungee cords so they can’t be dropped. A compact waterproof camera is also kept in a shirt/jacket pocket to which it is attached with a bungee cord. All my bits & pieces are kept in or attached to a chest pack. These include, line snips, unhooking forceps, floatants, tippet spools, spare leaders, nail/needle knot tool, flourescent wax & nymphing indicators, small first aid kit, a fly retriever tool & small weighing scales.

 Finally I have a floating, fish friendly net attached with a magnetic holder & bungee cord to the back of my chest pack & on trips over a couple of hours a small rucksac with food, drink & waterproof. Poloroid sunglasses, suitably camoflaged clothing, waders, wading boots, knee/shin pads & peaked cap complete my gear.

2. Leaders

When using the micro thin lines that I prefer I always use the same basic leader setup which allows me to change quickly from dry fly to nymphing when necessary. To the 0.55mm diameter tip of the line I nail knot a 7’ tapered section cut from a 12’ 6x copolymer leader (tapering from 0.43mm to about 0.02mm diameter). At the end of this I tie a small perfection loop to which I can attach about 5’ of tippet for dry fly fishing or a semi-curly tricoloured mono indicator plus tippet if I want to fish with nymphs. However when fishing with a conventional 3 weight DT line & my Italian Style rod, plus a dry fly I use a 12’ 4x Rio Powerflex copolymer tapered leader, with about 5’ of tippet added, joined to the line with a Super Glue Join which slides smoothly through the tip ring. On very small streams I sometimes use a 7’ furled leader made from fly tying thread with my 2 weight silk line & a 6’ 3 weight cane rod. Recently when fishing dry flies on my local chalk stream I’ve been experimenting with a 4x 15’ Varivas Super Yamame Flat Butt tapered leader plus an extra 3’ of tippet when using my 3 weight DT line & I have been very impressed with how it casts, its lack of memory & its incredible suppleness.

3. Approach & stealth

Scare the fish & you might as well go home. I tend to fish at very close range, 30’ or less, to aid presentation. I wear camo gear. I move incredibly slowly. I use what ever cover that is available. I keep as low as possible & my knee pads get heavy use. I avoid false casting. I fish as light as is practical.

4.  Reading the water

If I can’t see a fish, either rising or on the fin, I look for possible fish lies where there is likely to be a good supply of food, shelter from the main flow & cover from predators nearby. Undercut banks, submerged tree roots and fallen trees, foam lines where surface bubbles & trapped insects have accumulated, the pocket of calm infront of boulders, channels between weedbeds, slightly deeper troughs in shallow riffles, below low overhanging branches, drop-offs into deeper water are all likely spots. Don’t ignore subtle indications such as a slight slowing of the flow over a deeper pocket in shallow water or the swirl that indicates a submerged boulder or weedbed.

5. Casting ability & essential casts

Poor accuracy & an inability to perform the casts required to present the fly properly (usually drag-free when fishing the dry fly) is as much a ‘kiss of death’ as is scaring the fish. The dry fly fisher must be able to perform a wide range of slack-line casts including Dump casts, Parachute casts, Wiggle casts, Reach casts & Curve casts. In addition the abilty to perform Roll casts, Snake Roll casts, Belgium/Oval casts, Side casts & several others is incredibly important. A good caster can adapt to poor tackle, but top of the line tackle can not compensate for a poor caster.

6. Entomology, what should we know?

It is by no means essential to be an Entomologist to be a good fly fisher, but it helps. However the angler must be observant, noteing what food organisms are abundant on or in the water at particular times, what they look like  (size, shape & colour) & how they behave. Knowing their Latin names is unimportant, but knowing what the fish are likely to be feeding on is very important. For example a tiny Caddis/Sedge pupa, Latin name Agapetus, is of great significance on many rivers, particularly my local chalk stream, yet most fly fishers I meet are unaware of its existence. When trout & grayling are preoccupied with Agapetus pupae that are swimming to the bank before transposing into the adult form the fish will on most occassions totally ignore any other offering but an Agapetus pupa imitation fished with dead-drifts interspersed with frequent tiny twitch/pulls.

7. Rise forms. Can they tell us something?

Much has been written about rise forms & their interpretation, for example the kidney shaped swirls that have been attributed to fish rising to blue winged olives. I must confess a degree of scepticism with regard to any precise interpretations of particular rise forms. However, I believe that there are certain generalisations that can be made. Generally sipping rises are made by fish taking things that are unlikely to escape such as spent upwing spinners trapped in the surface film & half-drowned aphids, whilst vigorous rises often indicate that fish are taking active prey that could easily escape such as emerging sedge/caddis pupae, adult caddis that are skittering across the river surface or small fish such as minnows. Having recently watched trout agressively shooting across the river to take pieces of inanimate bread thrown for the ducks I am warry to use rise forms more than tentatively as a means of determining what the fish are feeding on.

8. Fly selection, size, shape, materials, which flies are essential.

Over the last 50 plus years I’ve reduced the number & simplified the tying of the flies that I use. When tying flies I am a great believer in the importance of GISS (general impression, size & shape).  I find that size can be critical & have had days when grayling & trout have refused a size 24 CdC Midge/Aphid but readily taken a size 30. Choice of materials is also very important with regard to how the fly sits on or in the water surface, how easily it casts & how durable it is.

My most used dry flies are:

·      My variant on Jack Tucker’s incredibly effective CdC IOBO (IT OUGHTA BE OUTLAWED) Humpy in sizes 24 to 12 to cover a wide range of insects.

·      A size 26 to 30 CdC Midge, the MMM or Minimalistic Micro Midge.

·      A Shuttlecock Emerger in sizes 30 to 14 with a stripped quill abdomen coated with UV resin to aid sinking of the body & protect the quill from damage. By adjusting the body weight & the amount of CdC used it is possible to engineer this pattern so that it submerges when it hits the water then pops up to the surface like a real emerging midge or upwing dun.

·      Marjan Fratnick’s F Fly in sizes 20 to 12 with just a thread body.

·      A hackle-less Elk Hair Caddis.

·      An extended-body Mayfly. The light, flexible body makes this land gently, float well & makes it easy for a fish to ingest it.

·      An extended-body Daddy.

·      A Foam Beetle/Ant in sizes 20 to 12.

·      Stuart Croft’s Agapetus Pupa.

9 Presentation & drifts

 I am obsessive about presentation. I have seen educated cutthroat trout on Soda Butte Creek in Yellowstone Park Wyoming turn away when even a natural insect has been blow slightly off course. Even micro-drag, so minute that we can’t see it, can put a fish off taking our fly. Yet there are many times when a bit of subtle or even vigorous movement can induce a take from a fish, particularly brook trout. Reducing the influence of drag-inducing rogue currents on the line & particularly the leader & tippet can be challenging, however choice of casting position, long rods, light lines, long supple leaders, fine tippet, the right angle of approach & choice of Cast can all help with precision presentation. 

10. Upstream or downstream

On relatively wide rivers I much prefer to fish directly across or slightly upstream and across with a reach cast or to fish across & slightly downstream with a parachute cast followed by rod tracking to extend the drag-free drift. If at all possible I avoid casting directly upstream which can result in the leader or line landing on top of the fish. If I have to fish directly upstream I try to use a curved cast so the leader lands to one side of the fish with the fly in front of it.

11. Fighting fish

This is a thorny topic on which folks have divergent views. Those of us who support ‘catch & release’ want to play our fish in such a way that it does not build up a lethal level of lactic acid in its muscles. This, I believe, can be done in 2 ways. The simplest is to use strong rods, thick tippets & big flies tied on strong hooks & haul the fish rapidly into the net. I use this tactic when fishing for big wild brown trout amongst submerged willow trees on my local chalk stream (6 weight rod, 8 to 10lb tippet & a size 10 or 12 Caddis tied on a heavy wire hook). However there are many times that the fish are focused on tiny foods such as Agapetus pupae when a size 20, relatively fine wire hook is needed for an appropriate imitation. Even worse is when the educated rainbows on my local lake are taking midge pupae 3mm long & I have to fish with a size 30 imitation to stand any real chance of success. In such situations a long, soft, light-line rod is essential to protect the relatively light tippet that has to be used. Then it becomes a game of Chess rather than a game of Brute Force. One tactic on this gear or when a really big fish is hooked on Tenkara gear is to keep changing the angle of pull so the fish is kept off balance & never charges off in a particular direction. Another is to reduce the pressure on the fish which often stops it fighting so hard & it can then be gently lead to the net. If a fish doesn’t fight too hard its muscles never go anaerobic & therefore there is no build-up of lactic acid. Using these tactics I have successfully landed rainbows of up to just short of 6lb & returned them unharmed on a 10’ 6” 0 weight rod & 0.10mm diameter/7x tippet. Tying tiny flies into a Rapala Loop Knot helps in situations where you need to use stronger/stiffer tippet than is optimum for the fly size as it allows freer movement of the fly; it looks awful but the fish don’t mind.